IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/reveco/v103y2025ics1059056025006331.html

From crisis to Stability: How CSR shielded firms during Covid-19 pandemic

Author

Listed:
  • Arian, Adam
  • Bose, Sudipta
  • Karoui, Lotfi
  • Shams, Syed

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the COVID-19 pandemic and firm risk, as well as the moderating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in this relationship. Using 22,451 firm-year observations from 62 countries between 2018 and 2021, the study finds a marked increase in firm risk due to the economic disruptions caused by the pandemic. However, firms with strong CSR performance exhibit greater resilience, highlighting CSR's critical role in crisis management and risk mitigation beyond ethical compliance. Additional analysis shows that the effects of the pandemic and the moderating role of CSR performance vary by country-level business culture and economic environment. The findings highlight the importance of integrating CSR into corporate strategy to enhance resilience and manage risk during crises. We also show that stakeholder management serves as an underlying mechanism linking the interaction between CSR performance and the COVID-19 pandemic to firm risk. The study also advocates for policy support to strengthen CSR initiatives, offering actionable insights for managers and policymakers in fostering corporate preparedness for future challenges.

Suggested Citation

  • Arian, Adam & Bose, Sudipta & Karoui, Lotfi & Shams, Syed, 2025. "From crisis to Stability: How CSR shielded firms during Covid-19 pandemic," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:103:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025006331
    DOI: 10.1016/j.iref.2025.104470
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1059056025006331
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.iref.2025.104470?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. Lee, Cheng-Hsun & Bose, Sudipta, 2021. "Do family firms engage in less tax avoidance than non-family firms? The corporate opacity perspective," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2).
    3. Alex Cheema‐Fox & Bridget R. LaPerla & Hui (Stacie) Wang & George Serafeim, 2021. "Corporate Resilience and Response to COVID‐19," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 33(2), pages 24-40, June.
    4. Jeff L. McMullin & Bryce Schonberger, 2020. "Entropy-balanced accruals," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(1), pages 84-119, March.
    5. Mohammed Benlemlih & Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2018. "Environmental and Social Disclosures and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 613-626, October.
    6. Fang Gao & Yi Dong & Chenkai Ni & Renhui Fu, 2016. "Determinants and Economic Consequences of Non-financial Disclosure Quality," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(2), pages 287-317, June.
    7. Ruth V. Aguilera & Cynthia A. Williams & John M. Conley & Deborah E. Rupp, 2006. "Corporate Governance and Social Responsibility: a comparative analysis of the UK and the US," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(3), pages 147-158, May.
    8. Kirsten A. Cook & Andrea M. Romi & Daniela Sánchez & Juan Manuel Sánchez, 2019. "The influence of corporate social responsibility on investment efficiency and innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3-4), pages 494-537, March.
    9. Ioannis Ioannou & George Serafeim, 2012. "What drives corporate social performance? The role of nation-level institutions," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 43(9), pages 834-864, December.
    10. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 2008. "Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    11. Ang, Andrew & Hodrick, Robert J. & Xing, Yuhang & Zhang, Xiaoyan, 2009. "High idiosyncratic volatility and low returns: International and further U.S. evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 1-23, January.
    12. Hainmueller, Jens & Xu, Yiqing, 2013. "ebalance: A Stata Package for Entropy Balancing," Journal of Statistical Software, Foundation for Open Access Statistics, vol. 54(i07).
    13. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis & Stephen J. Terry, 2020. "COVID-Induced Economic Uncertainty," NBER Working Papers 26983, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Srinivas Nippani & Kenneth Washer, 2004. "SARS: a non-event for affected countries' stock markets?," Applied Financial Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(15), pages 1105-1110.
    15. Douglas Staiger & James H. Stock, 1997. "Instrumental Variables Regression with Weak Instruments," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 65(3), pages 557-586, May.
    16. Bouslah, Kais & Kryzanowski, Lawrence & M’Zali, Bouchra, 2013. "The impact of the dimensions of social performance on firm risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1258-1273.
    17. Somya Arora & Jagan Kumar Sur & Yogesh Chauhan, 2022. "Does corporate social responsibility affect shareholder value? Evidence from the COVID‐19 crisis," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 325-334, June.
    18. He Huang & Ye Ye, 2021. "Rethinking capital structure decision and corporate social responsibility in response to COVID‐19," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(3), pages 4757-4788, September.
    19. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjo Koskinen & Shuai Yang & Chendi Zhang, 2020. "Resiliency of Environmental and Social Stocks: An Analysis of the Exogenous COVID-19 Market Crash," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 9(3), pages 593-621.
    20. Mark Lang & Karl V. Lins & Mark Maffett, 2012. "Transparency, Liquidity, and Valuation: International Evidence on When Transparency Matters Most," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 50(3), pages 729-774, June.
    21. Sam Ronald & Suwandi Ng & Fransiskus Eduardus Daromes, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility as Economic Mechanism for Creating Firm Value," Indonesian Journal of Sustainability Accounting and Management, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 3(1), pages 22-36.
    22. Li Cai & Jinhua Cui & Hoje Jo, 2016. "Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(3), pages 563-594, December.
    23. Rui Albuquerque & Yrjö Koskinen & Chendi Zhang, 2019. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Risk: Theory and Empirical Evidence," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4451-4469, October.
    24. Huayun Zhai & Mingsheng Xiao & Kam C. Chan & Qingzhuo Liu, 2022. "Physical proximity, corporate social responsibility, and the impact of negative investor sentiment on stock returns: Evidence from COVID‐19 in China," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 308-314, June.
    25. Lorenzo Dal Maso & Gerald J. Lobo & Francesco Mazzi & Luc Paugam, 2020. "Implications of the Joint Provision of CSR Assurance and Financial Audit for Auditors' Assessment of Going‐Concern Risk†," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(2), pages 1248-1289, June.
    26. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    27. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:975-1008 is not listed on IDEAS
    28. Sudipta Bose & Syed Shams & Muhammad Jahangir Ali & Dessalegn Mihret, 2022. "COVID‐19 impact, sustainability performance and firm value: international evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 597-643, March.
    29. Jeffrey S. Harrison & Douglas A. Bosse & Robert A. Phillips, 2010. "Managing for stakeholders, stakeholder utility functions, and competitive advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 58-74, January.
    30. Renneboog, Luc & Ter Horst, Jenke & Zhang, Chendi, 2008. "Socially responsible investments: Institutional aspects, performance, and investor behavior," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1723-1742, September.
    31. Mohammed Benlemlih & Isabelle Girerd-Potin, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial risk reduction: On the moderating role of the legal environment," Post-Print hal-01977064, HAL.
    32. HaiYue Liu & Aqsa Manzoor & CangYu Wang & Lei Zhang & Zaira Manzoor, 2020. "The COVID-19 Outbreak and Affected Countries Stock Markets Response," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-19, April.
    33. Amit Goyal & Pedro Santa‐Clara, 2003. "Idiosyncratic Risk Matters!," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 975-1007, June.
    34. Mohammed Benlemlih & Isabelle Girerd-Potin, 2017. "Corporate social responsibility and firm financial risk reduction: On the moderating role of the legal environment," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7-8), pages 1137-1166, July.
    35. King, Gary & Nielsen, Richard, 2019. "Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 435-454, October.
    36. Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Pham, Linh & Nguyen, Thanh Thi Phuong, 2023. "Does country sustainability improve firm ESG reporting transparency? The moderating role of firm industry and CSR engagement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    37. Sudipta Bose & Chuan Yu, 2023. "Does Earnings Quality Influence Corporate Social Responsibility Performance? Empirical Evidence of the Causal Link," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(2), pages 493-540, June.
    38. Lorenzo Dal Maso & Gerald J. Lobo & Francesco Mazzi & Luc Paugam, 2020. "Implications of the Joint Provision of CSR Assurance and Financial Audit for Auditors’ Assessment of Going Concern Risk," Working Papers hal-02896476, HAL.
    39. Al-Fakir Al Rabab’a, Eltayyeb & Rashid, Afzalur & Shams, Syed & Bose, Sudipta, 2024. "Corporate carbon performance and firm risk: Evidence from Asia-Pacific countries," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2).
    40. Carracedo, Patricia & Puertas, Rosa & Marti, Luisa, 2021. "Research lines on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on business. A text mining analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 586-593.
    41. Karl V. Lins & Henri Servaes & Ane Tamayo, 2017. "Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 72(4), pages 1785-1824, August.
    42. Maretno Harjoto & Indrarini Laksmana & Robert Lee, 2015. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(4), pages 641-660, December.
    43. Khlystova, Olena & Kalyuzhnova, Yelena & Belitski, Maksim, 2022. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the creative industries: A literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1192-1210.
    44. Lang, Mark & Stice-Lawrence, Lorien, 2015. "Textual analysis and international financial reporting: Large sample evidence," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(2), pages 110-135.
    45. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    46. Hoje Jo & Haejung Na, 2012. "Does CSR Reduce Firm Risk? Evidence from Controversial Industry Sectors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 441-456, November.
    47. Amy J. Hillman & Gerald D. Keim, 2001. "Shareholder value, stakeholder management, and social issues: what's the bottom line?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 125-139, February.
    48. Paul C. Godfrey & Craig B. Merrill & Jared M. Hansen, 2009. "The relationship between corporate social responsibility and shareholder value: an empirical test of the risk management hypothesis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 425-445, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Al-Fakir Al Rabab’a, Eltayyeb & Rashid, Afzalur & Shams, Syed & Bose, Sudipta, 2024. "Corporate carbon performance and firm risk: Evidence from Asia-Pacific countries," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2).
    2. Monica Singhania & Dimple Gupta, 2024. "Impact of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure on firm risk: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(4), pages 3573-3613, July.
    3. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    4. Ehsan Poursoleyman & Gholamreza Mansourfar & Mohammad Kabir Hassan & Saeid Homayoun, 2024. "Did Corporate Social Responsibility Vaccinate Corporations Against COVID-19?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 189(3), pages 525-551, January.
    5. Jongwon Park & Sunyoung Kim & Albert Tsang, 2023. "CEO Personal Hedging and Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(1), pages 199-221, January.
    6. Alice Monti & Pierpaolo Pattitoni & Barbara Petracci & Otto Randl, 2022. "Does corporate social responsibility impact equity risk? International evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(3), pages 825-855, October.
    7. Samarawickrama, Dhanushika & Biswas, Pallab Kumar & Roberts, Helen, 2025. "CSR disclosure, business groups and firm risk," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    8. Muhammad Arif & Christopher Gan & Hussein Ahmed Bataineh, 2024. "Global evidence on the association between environmental, social, and governance disclosures and future earnings risk," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 2497-2517, March.
    9. Chang, Shun-Fen & Chen, Bai-Sian & Chen, Hong-Yi & Chen, Hsiao-Yin, 2025. "The impact of ESG ratings on firm risks in Taiwan's market," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    10. Paola Brighi & Antonio Carlo Francesco Della Bina & Valeria Venturelli, 2022. "Do ESG Investments Mitigate ESG Controversies? Evidence From International Data," Centro Studi di Banca e Finanza (CEFIN) (Center for Studies in Banking and Finance) 0084, Universita di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Dipartimento di Economia "Marco Biagi".
    11. Hossain, Ashrafee Tanvir & Kryzanowski, Lawrence, 2021. "Political corruption and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C).
    12. Alhajjeah, Diana & Besim, Mustafa & Al-Hajieh, Heitham, 2025. "Mitigating crisis impact: The influence of corporate social responsibility on non-financial firms’ financial performance," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    13. Hu, Yi & Yin, Chao, 2025. "Reprint of: Political uncertainty, corporate social responsibility, and firm performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(1).
    14. Zhang, Ning & Zhang, Yue & Zong, Zhe, 2023. "Fund ESG performance and downside risk: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    15. Wassim Dbouk & Dawei Jin & Haizhi Wang & Jianrong Wang, 2018. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Rule 144A Debt Offerings: Empirical Evidence," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-18, November.
    16. Iftekhar Hasan & Panagiotis Karavitis & Pantelis Kazakis & Woon Sau Leung, 2025. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Profit Shifting," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(1), pages 1-29, January.
    17. Van Ha Nguyen & Frank W Agbola & Bobae Choi, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce information asymmetry? Empirical evidence from Australia," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 44(2), pages 188-211, May.
    18. Gangi, Francesco & Meles, Antonio & Monferrà, Stefano & Mustilli, Mario, 2020. "Does corporate social responsibility help the survivorship of SMEs and large firms?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    19. Salvi, Antonio & Giakoumelou, Anastasia & Bertinetti, Giorgio Stefano, 2021. "CSR in the bond market: Pricing stakeholders and the moderating role of the institutional context," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    20. de la Fuente, Gabriel & Ortiz, Margarita & Velasco, Pilar, 2025. "Business diversification and ESG engagement: Riding tandem to risk reduction and value creation?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:103:y:2025:i:c:s1059056025006331. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620165 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.